Light Fall is a light sculpture that extends the entirety of a 15 story, windowless stairwell. The sculpture provides light to the stairwell without the use of electricity using a roof mounted light cannon and bundles of glass strands which act as solar collectors and redirect daylight down its 208 foot length in the form of a “light dagger”. The 5,000 miles of collectors are sheathed in translucent sleeves which are supported by steel rings that are spaced 15 feet apart and hung from four steel cables in tension.

The role of the structure, especially the cable supports, was to visually disappear. The structure needed to serve the art and convey a light touch. The structural design is focused on a very small scale and the creation of quiet details that allows the focus to be on the light element within the expressed structure of the staircase. The light capture machine and optics are of a certain scale and the structural elements were designed to be delicate and unobtrusive, to complement and not overshadow, especially in the confined space of the staircase.  As such, the elements are the right scale for an instrument rather than a building. 

Photograph: George Loisos